The Cleveland Browns let a golden opportunity slip away Sunday afternoon in New Orleans, suffering a heartbreaking 23-22 overtime loss to the Saints when Shedeur Sanders and the offense couldn’t convert on what would have been a game winning 2-point conversion with 1:00 left in OT.
Making his first start of the 2026 season in place of Deshaun Watson, who was sidelined after entering concussion protocol, Shedeur Sanders delivered a solid performance despite the disappointing outcome. Sanders completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception.
One of his biggest plays came in the fourth quarter when he connected with rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion on a 64-yard touchdown pass, the first of his NFL career, giving Cleveland a 13-9 lead with 5:21 remaining.
The Saints however would respond when Audric Estime scored on a 2 yard run with :58 seconds left to give the Saints a 16-13 lead.
But Sanders would lead Cleveland back, engineering a 7 play, 41 yard drive to set up Andre Szmyt’s game tying 51 yard field goal to send it to overtime tied at 16-16.
In the OT, the Saints drove down the field and regained the lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Shough to Juwan Johnson with 4:17 remaining.
Cleveland wasn’t finished, as Sanders engineered another scoring drive, finding tight end Harold Fannin Jr. for a 39-yard touchdown pass with just 1:00 remaining to make it 23-22 New Orleans.
Trailing by 1, head coach Todd Monken and the Browns elected to go for the 2-point conversion and the victory rather than settle for a tie. But Cleveland failed to convert, ending the game and handing the Saints a 23-22 victory.
Cleveland, now (5-4) on the year, will host the Houston Texans Sunday.
The big question now is, who will be the starting quarterback for the Browns in that game if Deshaun Watson is cleared to play.
(AI was used for some of this story)
